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The Jan. 6 committee's ninth and likely final investigative hearing Thursday will feature new testimony and evidence, including Secret Service records and surveillance video. ET, will not include any live witnesses, a committee aide said. All nine committee members are expected to lead segments of the hearing. That’s a departure from this summer when each of the eight hearings featured only a few panel members at a time. Part of the committee's charge is to issue legislative recommendations to prevent another Jan. 6 attack, and some panel members Thursday will present on the ongoing threats to democracy that remain.

☆ Navy SEAL trainee who died after Hell Week succumbed to acute pneumonia and cardiac arrest, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Courtney-Kube-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Courtney Kube | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

WASHINGTON — A Navy SEAL candidate who died hours after he completed the grueling stretch of training known as Hell Week succumbed to acute pneumonia and cardiac arrest, according to a military investigation obtained by NBC News. When he died on Feb. 4, Mullen had just completed the fourth week of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, commonly known as Hell Week. By the time he successfully completed Hell Week, Mullen had gained 22 pounds from swelling and fluid retention, and he had to return to the barracks in a wheelchair. Just two months after Mullen died, a candidate tested positive for PEDs and was removed from training, according to the Navy. After Mullen died, Naval Special Warfare also began advanced cardiology screening for all candidates.

☆ Secret Service has given investigators over 1 million electronic communications agents sent before and on Jan. 6, 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The Secret Service has handed congressional investigators more than 1 million electronic communications sent by agents in the lead-up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the matter. While the communications do not include text messages, they do include emails and other electronic messages, according to a Secret Service spokesperson. It was previously unknown that the total number of communications provided to congressional investigators surpassed 1 million. NBC News previously reported that Secret Service agents have been trying to get an account of what information may have been taken from their personal phones and handed over to congressional investigators, but they were recently denied. Most recently, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers group testified in court he believed their leader, Stewart Rhodes, was in communication with at least one Secret Service agent prior to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

☆ Secret Service agents were denied right to know what Jan. 6 info was seized from their phones
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Secret Service agents asked the agency for a record of all of the communications seized from their personal cellphones as part of investigations into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, but were rebuffed, according to a document reviewed by NBC News. NBC News previously reported that two sources with knowledge of the action said Secret Service leadership seized 24 cellphones from agents involved with the response to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The letter also raises key questions about what Secret Service communications both congressional and inspector general’s investigators may have. The Secret Service declined to comment. Most recently, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers group testified in court that the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, was in communication with at least one Secret Service agent before the Jan. 6 insurrection.

☆ Blake Shelton announces exit from ‘The Voice’ as new coaches join
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Season 23 of “The Voice” will welcome some new faces and say goodbye to the hit show’s longest-tenured coach. Next season will be Blake Shelton’s last on the show, NBC revealed in a statement on Tuesday, and Chance the Rapper and former One Direction member Niall Horan are set to join as first-time coaches. Kelly Clarkson will round out the coach lineup in the new season, set to debut next spring,“I’ve been wrestling with this for a while and I’ve decided that it’s time for me to step away from ‘The Voice,’” Shelton said in a statement via the network. “This show has changed my life in every way for the better and it will always feel like home to me.”Chance the Rapper and Niall Horan. He has also coached 15 artists whose songs have hit #1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart.

☆ A Trump lawyer backed away from signing a false statement that no more government records were held at Mar-a-Lago: Reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Trump lawyer signed a June statement to the DOJ saying there were no more records at Mar-a-Lago. She insisted on adding a disclaimer that she had not searched Mar-a-Lago herself, reports said. FBI agents had visited Mar-a-Lago in June, when Trump aides handed over boxes of government records Trump had been keeping there. It found hundreds more government records, including highly classified intelligence, being held in a store room and Trump's offices. Officials at the National Archives requested that Trump return records he'd taken with him only months after he left office in 2021, and subsequently made repeated attempts to get him to hand over the documents.

☆ U.K. spy chief warns China’s use of technology threatens global security
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Fleming is due to deliver his warning on Tuesday in London at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank. According to excerpts from his speech, Fleming will cite several examples of how China seeks leverage from key technologies or tries to rewrite international standards. And there are fears the technology could be used to track individuals,” Fleming will say. Underlying China’s belief in one-party rule and tight state control is “a sense of fear,” Fleming will say. “Far from the inevitable Russian military victory that their propaganda machine spouted, it’s clear that Ukraine’s courageous action on the battlefield and in cyberspace is turning the tide,” the excerpts say.

Flu cases are already rising in parts of the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The convergence of viruses is hitting health care systems as they're forced to reckon with staffing shortages that worsened during the pandemic. Staffing deficits mean there is little wiggle room to accommodate any additional surges of patients, whether they're sick with Covid, flu or other illness. But as the cold weather sets in and people increasingly gather indoors, Covid cases are expected to rise. The vast majority of Covid cases circulating now are an omicron subvariant, BA.5.

☆ The anesthesiologist who is putting you under may work for a private-equity firm
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Gretchen Morgenson | Gretchen Morgenson Is The Senior Financial Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. A Former Stockbroker | She Won The Pulitzer Prize In For Her | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

But some physicians and patient advocates say the health care investments of private-equity firms and their drive to reap relatively short-term profits are inconsistent with putting patients first. Independent academic studies find that private equity’s laser focus on profits in health care operations can result in lower staffing levels at hospitals and nursing homes. Neither the FTC nor U.S. Anesthesia Partners responded to voice mails seeking comment; a spokesman for U.S. Anesthesia Partners confirmed the inquiry to the Journal, saying it is cooperating. NBC News asked both of NAPA’s private-equity owners about the disputes involving the company and the research showing higher costs associated with private-equity ownership of anesthesiology practices. Covid was sweeping the country and Moses Taylor was doing its best to respond to the health care crisis, according to its lawsuit.

What is the latest challenge for Iran's cleric-led government as it works to crush weeks of anti-government protests? “It’s an indication that this is a struggle for the future,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Last month the human rights group Amnesty International also said it had documented children among the people killed by the government in its crackdown. On Wednesday Human Rights Watch said that Iran's security forces have used excessive force against women protesting peacefully across the country. Human Rights Watch said assault rifles and shotguns have been employed against the demonstrators - even against people fleeing from the police and the military.

Administration officials are particularly worried that the tens of thousands of children at al-Hol are especially vulnerable to being recruited by ISIS or forced to join. Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces inspect tents at the al-Hol camp in August during a security campaign against ISIS sleeper cells. U.S. officials have said that there is no military solution to al-Hol and that instead they are trying to stop the growth of ISIS through diplomatic outreach. The camp’s size and makeup dramatically changed in March 2019, when the Syrian Democratic Forces defeated ISIS fighters at Baghouz, Syria. The battle there was seen as ISIS’ last stand, and ISIS’ defeat marked the fall of its self-proclaimed caliphate.

Prosecutors with the 18th Judicial District and DEA agents seized 114 pounds of pure fentanyl in Colorado. A spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, which made the initial discovery of the fentanyl, provided a blunt account of the botched operation. But after this story was published, a DEA official confirmed the seizure of 114 pounds of fentanyl. "DEA is relentlessly pursuing the individuals that were involved in the trafficking of the seized fentanyl and will continue to do so." “We’ve got a record amount of fentanyl involved here, in fact, enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the state of Colorado,” Figliuzzi said.

The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund is out with two new ads in Pennsylvania's Senate race targeting Democratic nominee John Fetterman over a 2013 incident where he pulled a firearm on an unarmed Black jogger. "My message to Black voters: do your homework about John Fetterman," one woman says in the first ad. It's been brought up in other ads attacking Fetterman earlier this year, too. RJC is spending over $1.5 million on this ad campaign, a press release from the group said. "This is John Fetterman," the narrator says later, adding, "the guy who will cut taxes for working people, slash healthcare costs and fight for a woman’s right to choose.

The House Jan. 6 committee is interviewing Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on Thursday, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News. The interview was scheduled to begin around 9:30 a.m. NBC News cameras outside the O’Neill House building captured Thomas as she arrived at the Capitol. A source close to the panel told NBC News last week that the committee had reached an agreement with Thomas to be interviewed. Thomas first came under scrutiny for messages she sent to Mark Meadows, who was White House chief of staff on Jan. 6, telling him to encourage then-President Donald Trump not to concede the election to Joe Biden. The Jan. 6 committee delayed a public hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday of this week because of Hurricane Ian.

☆ Biden White House preparing to take executive action to protect DACA 'Dreamers'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Josh-Lederman-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Josh Lederman | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The White House is preparing to take executive action to protect hundreds of thousands of immigrants known as “Dreamers,” people close to the White House told NBC News, as the Biden administration braces for a potential court defeat that could end the decade-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Circuit Court of Appeals, possibly within days. Although the Biden administration is likely to appeal the order, the Supreme Court has indicated it would agree with a 5th Circuit ruling that ends the Obama-era program. The order would direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deprioritize deporting DACA recipients and refrain from deporting them if they aren’t deemed threats to public safety or national security. And if something terrible comes out of the 5th Circuit, I think it could be an issue in November,” said Durbin, referring to the November midterm elections.

☆ Coolio, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper, dies at 59
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Diana Dasrath | Phil Helsel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Rapper Coolio, known for hits including "Fantastic Voyage" and "Gangsta's Paradise," has died at age 59, his manager confirmed Wednesday evening. Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., had a music career that spanned more than three decades. Coolio won a Grammy for "Gangsta's Paradise," which was released in 1995 and spent three weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 list. Coolio was also known for hits including "Fantastic Voyage," "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" and "C U When U Get There," among others. He was nominated for five other Grammys, including for "Fantastic Voyage" and "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)."

☆ As protests rage at home, Iran launches drone and missile attack in Iraq’s Kurdistan region
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

As Iran struggles to quell a wave of street protests at home, the regime launched a drone and missile attack on an Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in neighboring Iraq on Wednesday, Kurdish and U.S. officials said. The Iranian attack left at least nine people dead and 32 wounded, Kurdish authorities in the area said. Smoke billows following an Iranian cross-border attack in the area of Zargwez, about 9 miles from Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, on Sept. 28, 2022. The U.S. condemned the Iranian attack as an assault on Iraq’s sovereignty and accused the regime of trying to divert attention from domestic turmoil. No U.S. troops were wounded or killed in the Iranian attack.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol postponed a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, citing a major hurricane that is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast. The select committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings." The panel's leaders did not immediately provide a new date for the hearing, which would have been its first in roughly two months. After hitting Cuba early Tuesday, the hurricane was gaining strength as it headed toward Florida. The postponement of the Sept. 28 hearing, comes just over a month before the midterm elections.

☆ Secret Service took cellphones of 24 agents involved in agency's Jan. 6 riot response
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Senior leadership at the Secret Service confiscated the cellphones of 24 agents involved in the agency’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and handed them over to the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, according to two sources with knowledge of the action. It is unclear what, if any, information the Office of Inspector General has been able to obtain from the cellphones. One source familiar with the Secret Service decision to comply with Cuffari’s request said some agents were upset their leaders were quick to confiscate the phones without their input. The Secret Service has said the texts were lost as part of a previously planned systems upgrade that essentially restored the phones to factory settings. A spokesperson for the Secret Service declined to comment about the confiscated phones.

☆ A top member of the Oath Keepers texted with Rudy Giuliani's son about the 2020 election, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A top member of the Oath Keepers texted Andrew Giuliani about election issues, per NBC News. Ex-GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman told NBC News it's "so important" for the public to know about such links. Since the message was sent to a switchboard line at the White House, it was undeliverable. Andrew Giuliani told NBC News that he last communicated with SoRelle on November 20, 2020. "Until you mentioned her, until I looked it up, it didn't really ring a bell," Giuliani told the news organization.

☆ Brett Favre told Mississippi governor he would not ‘take No for answer’ over volleyball stadium, court filing shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Phil Bryant on Sept. 4, 2019 about funding the volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi’s main campus in Hattiesburg. “Use of these funds (is) tightly controlled,” Bryant texted Favre on July 28, 2019, according to the filing. Favre also secured $3.2 million for a drug company in which he had invested, according to court records. Favre has also denied wrongdoing through his lawyer, who acknowledged that the ex-Packer has been interviewed by the FBI. He added that Favre behaved honorably and never knew the state grants he was seeking were from the federal welfare program.

☆ CIA reveals model used to plan strike against Al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The CIA on Saturday unveiled the model of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s safe house in Kabul used to plan the U.S. drone strike that killed the Al-Qaeda leader last month. The scale model of Zawahiri’s house was shown to reporters as part of a tour of a newly refurbished museum at the agency's headquarters. “This was the model that was used to brief President Biden on the Zawahiri mission,” said Janelle Neises, deputy director of the CIA museum. Zawahiri was struck by a Hellfire missile as he stood on the balcony of the house, U.S. officials say. “He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats and American interests,” Biden said.

☆ After destruction, Florida Air Force base rebuilds to face effects of climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Lucas Thompson | Lucas Thompson Is A Content Producer For The Nbc News Climate Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The base serves a mission that can only be trained here on Florida’s sunny beaches. It’s the only airspace in the country where the Air Force can train fighter pilots to shoot down fake fighter jets in the sky and from the ground with rockets. “Tyndall has been kind of the heart of air dominance,” Watkins said. Lt. Nicholas Cap, Natural Disaster Recover Division, USAF, shows digital twin thought augmented reality at new headquarters building. Air Force engineers built new standards into what now just looks like the bones of a building.

☆ Russian troops raped and tortured children in Ukraine, U.N. panel says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Russian troops have raped and tortured children in Ukraine, carried out a “large number” of executions and committed other war crimes, according to a United Nations investigation by legal experts. “Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” Erik Mose, the chairman of the three-member commission, told the U.N. Human Rights Council. Mose, a Norwegian judge, said the commission has documented cases in which children have been "raped, tortured and unlawfully confined." Children also have been killed and wounded in “indiscriminate attacks” by Russian forces using explosive weapons, he said. Russia has denied committing war crimes and defended its conduct of the war since it launched the invasion Feb. 24.

Latinos are “vastly” underrepresented on corporate boards, especially considering the size of the U.S. Hispanic population, according to a report released Friday by the Latino Corporate Directors Association. Latinos make up 19% of the U.S. population, but in 2020 they held 4.1% of Fortune 500 board seats. From 2010 to 2020, Latino representation on Fortune 500 company boards increased by only 1.1 percentage point. Latino representation on Fortune 1000 company boards progressed similarly, with a nearly 1 percentage-point increase, from 3.2% to 4.1%. Since 2011, the number of companies with Latino representation on their boards has grown by 22%.

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